


Zottec's Birthday

by KTook



Category: Original Work
Genre: Asexual Character, Birthdays, Blind Character, Carus is adopted, Character of Color, Contemplation, Disabled Character of Color, Friendship, Gay Male Character, Gen, I wonder who that could be, Platonic Love, THAT'S Zottec, guess what also Carus, idk what to tag, that'll also be Carus, that'll be Carus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 17:27:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7766791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KTook/pseuds/KTook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Zottec's eighteenth birthday. Who better to spend it with than his best friend?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Zottec's Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Small Dramatis Personae:  
> Carus - a teenager who recently got blinded in an accident  
> Zottec - Carus' best friend since childhood  
> Carus' father - a policeman who adopted Carus when he was a baby  
> Zottec's family - a bunch of good people, if a bit dysfunctional and oblivious
> 
> (All of Zottec's siblings are older than him. "younger sibling" means "younger than even-older-sibling".)
> 
> I hope my depiction of a blind character is accurate and respectful. Any instance in which that's not the case is only attributable to me not doing my research thoroughly enough, and I apologise in advance.

On his eighteenth birthday, Zottec sat at the table like a cat on a hot tin roof. He enjoyed seeing all his siblings again, sure, and the presents were nice, but if he was being honest, the person he wanted to spend this day with most was not here right now.

He hadn’t asked Carus to come over today. The accident lay only a few months back, and when his father and oldest brother roared at a joke one of his sisters had made, he was glad he hadn’t. Maybe next year, Carus would be able to handle it, but right now, it was not an option. He’d lose his introverted mind after five minutes.

“I can’t believe all my children are grown-up now,” his mother said wistfully, turning his attention back to the present. 

“Yeah,” his older sister agreed. “I was pretty blown away when I saw you today, Zottec. In my mind, you were still tiny.” She raised her cup at him. “I love your ponytail, by the way. Suits you.”

He beamed. “Thanks!”

His father raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

His older brother had less tact. “It’s getting a tad long, though, doesn’t it?”

Zottec’s hand involuntarily went to his hair and he ran the ponytail through his fingers. “You think so?” he said listlessly.

“Nonsense,” his sister cut in. “It’s the perfect length.”

“Well, the only person who _has_ to like it is his future wife,” his father declared, and everyone laughed. Except Zottec.

He asked his younger sister for the coffee and stirred two sugar cubes into his cup. _Should I tell them now?_ he thought and looked around. His brothers ignored each other, as per usual, his mother talked to his younger sister, and his older one handed his father the cream.

_No._ He downed his coffee and asked, “Sorry, but would you guys mind if I went over to Carus’? I don’t want it to get too late.”

“Why didn’t he come over?” his younger sister asked.

“Ah, y’know,” Zottec replied with a shrug, “he’s never been the best with large groups, and it’s worse since the accident, so…”

“Accident?” his younger brother echoed. “What accident?”

“Haven’t you heard?” said his mother.

“Typical,” his older brother muttered. 

“Anyway, he was in an accident a few months ago,” Zottec said quickly before his brothers had a chance to be at each other’s throats again. “He was on his bike and got hit by a car. He hit his head really bad.”

“Is he okay?” his younger brother asked.

“Well, yeah. He’s blind now, but he manages.”

“Blind!”

“He hates it when it’s made a big deal,” Zottec said drily. “He’s usually like, ‘I can’t see, so what?’ He’s started O&M and everything.” He paused. “That’s Orientation and Mobility. You know, using the cane and stuff.”

“What about school?” asked his oldest sister. 

“He’s not going, not until he’s learned braille. But he needs to learn to manage the cane first.”

Half his siblings looked amazed, the other shocked.

Zottec cleared his throat in the sudden silence. “So, can I go?”

His mother jumped to her feet. “Of course! Give me a minute.” She picked out the biggest slice of each of the three cakes and put them on a plate. “For Carus and his father,” she said, handing it to Zottec.

“And give him a hug from me!” his oldest sister said.

“Me too!” his other sister added.

“I will,” Zottec promised. “See you later.”

“Bye,” his family chorused as he closed the door behind him.

He jogged the few metres to Carus’ house. Balancing the cake on his left hand, he dug the key out of his pocket and let himself in. He climbed the stairs up to the third floor, and knocked on Carus and his father’s flat door.

“That’s him!” came Carus’ muffled voice from within. Zottec grinned.

He heard footsteps approach, and Carus’ father opened the door. “Happy birthday, Zottec,” he said with a smile. “Oh, cake.”

“Yeah, from my mum.”

Carus appeared in the hallway behind his father, grinning broadly. “Happy birthday!”

“Thanks,” Zottec laughed.

Carus’ father stepped aside. “Come in. Carus, don’t hug him yet, he brought cake.”

“Cool,” said Carus and led the way into the living room, his fingers brushing along the wall. “But we made you one too.”

“You did?” asked Zottec, surprised. He put his mother’s cake down on the coffee table. He had to push a few presents aside to make room.

Carus and his father had an odd, though rather ingenious way of buying presents; because they didn’t have the biggest amount of money, and because Carus’ birthday was shortly after Christmas, they bought presents the whole year around, whenever they found something the givee would like or when they could afford it. Which resulted in a rather large accumulation sometimes, too.

“Did you put the cake down?” Carus asked.

“I did,” Zottec said, and immediately, Carus tackled him for a hug.

“Happy birthday, you noodle,” he murmured.

“Thanks, onion,” Zottec chuckled and ruffled his friend’s hair.

Carus pressed his face into Zottec’s shoulder and inhaled deeply through his nose. Zottec was already familiar with this funny little habit he had picked up, so he let him without commenting on it.

Carus’ father came in, carrying a tray with cake and tea. “Settle down, boys,” he said, pushing even more presents aside to fir the tray on the coffee table.

“Right, presents!” Carus said, sitting down on the sofa. 

“No, cake first,” said his father and took a package of candles out of his pocket. He stuck them on the cake and lit them. “Here you go, Zottec. Make a wish.”

Not needing to think, Zottec blew the candles out in one go.

“What did you wish for?” Carus asked.

“It’ll only come true if I keep it a secret,” said Zottec.

Carus pouted. “It’ll only come true if you tell someone,” he insisted.

“We’ve had that discussion before,” Zottec replied. “My family says hi, by the way.”

“Oh, cool. Tell them hi back.”

“I will.”

“Want a present?”

Zottec laughed. “Always.” He scanned the table. “Which one first?”

Carus shrugged.

Zottec looked around and picked out a small one for a start.

“Which one’s that?” Carus asked.

“The cylindrical one,” Zottec replied, picking at the wrapping.

Carus looked a little nervous, but he covered it up by saying, “It’s a weird custom though, wrapping something only so it can be unwrapped again.”

“Did _you_ wrap this?” asked Zottec.

Carus gave him a lopsided smile. “Is it that obvious?”

Zottec looked at the package in his hands. It was a little lumpy, but he didn’t care. Like Carus had said, the wrapping’s sole purpose was to be torn open. “You can’t see the difference.”

“Well, duh.”

They laughed and Zottec, losing his patience, ripped the paper off.

His first thought was, _Rainbows_. His second thought was _Hair ties_. Rainbow hair ties, five for each colour, with five more being rainbow-coloured themselves.

“I bought those before the accident,” Carus said. “I just had to when I saw them. D’you like them?”

“I love them,” Zottec laughed.

Carus grinned, relieved. “I figured they were a good way of self-expression without it being too obvious. I mean, who looks at hair ties?”

“And if I want to be really stealthy, I can just wear a one-coloured one,” Zottec added.

“Exactly. No-one would know but you.”

“It would be like being a secret agent.”

Carus tabbed his ear like he was wearing a microphone. “Hello, Rainbow Alliance Headquarters? This is Agent C, signing in.”

“This is Agent Z from Headquartes, Agent C, follow the target.”

“Copy that. Agent C out.”

Zottec laughed. Only then did he notice Carus’ father’s face. “What?” he asked uncertainly.

“You’re gay?” Carus’ father asked. He sounded surprised.

“Um.” Zottec shifted uncomfortably on his seat. “Yeah.”

“Dad, don’t tell me you didn’t know,” said Carus, incredulous.

“And how, pray tell, would I?” his father replied drily. “Don’t get me wrong, Zottec, you have my full support, I just didn’t know and was surprised.”

Zottec smiled. “It’s okay,” he said. “I think I just forgot to tell you.”

“When did you realise?” Carus’ father asked while Zottec picked out a large, soft package.

“I dunno, when I was fourteen, fifteen?” he replied, this time taking more time to unwrap the present. “I guess it had always been at the back of my head, but it took crushing on a classmate to get it.” He pulled the wrapping paper away to reveal a t-shirt, as he had suspected. He laughed. “Nice.”

“What’s that one?” Carus asked.

“A ‘Dogs on the job’ shirt,” said Zottec. The print showed a cartoon police dog in uniform, a sheep dog with a crook and a few others.

“Ah.” He grinned. “That’s from Dad, actually.”

“Oh, thanks!”

Carus’ father smiled. “Glad you like it.”

“I asked if they had a ‘Cats on the job’ one, but they didn’t,” Carus said.

“Of course not. Cats don’t have jobs. Cats sit around doing nothing all day.”

“Cats are awesome. I love cats.”

“I know,” Zottec said, exchanging a knowing grin with Carus’ father. He couldn’t wait for Carus’ birthday. He’d be in for one big surprise. A furry, purring surprise.

*

“Thanks again,” said Zottec, giving Carus one last hug. “I’ll drop in after school tomorrow, okay?”

Carus smiled. “Sure.”

“And I swear, one of these days, I’ll manage to accompany you to mobility training.”

“You’d better. Thea’s dying to meet you.”

Zottec smiled. “All right then. See you tomorrow.” He waved to Carus’ father, who lifted his teacup in return.

“Yeah, bye,” said Carus, then Zottec pulled the door closed behind him.

There was one thing Carus’ father knew about his son that would never change: he never wasted a single word. And so, when he came back into the living room, and his father said, “I’ve got a question,” he wasn’t surprised that Carus simply cocked his head and raised his eyebrows, saying nothing.

“Are you and Zottec… dating? Together? Whatever it’s called.”

Carus frowned and sat down, his head lowered. If his father didn’t know he was blind, he’d thought he was staring at the table.

_Right_ , he thought. _This’ll take a while_. He sipped his tea and mused, _The world would be a better place if everyone thought before speaking as carefully as Carus_.

“No,” his son said eventually. “But I don’t want to say we’re ‘just’ friends. Why is friendship seen as inferior to romantic relationships? I love him, to bits and pieces, but not in that way. I think there’s a lot of forms love can take, and the fact that there is only one word in the English language to describe them all is highly unsatisfactory and in many cases misleading.”

His father nodded slowly before he remembered. “I nodded,” he said.

Carus smiled.

“Another question,” said his father. “Are _you_ part of the Rainbow Alliance?”

That answer Carus needed to consider even longer. His father patiently poured himself another cup of tea.

“I don’t know,” Carus said slowly. “I have a feeling I’m not gay, but I’m not sure ‘straight’ fits me, either.” He paused.

His father waited.

“When I could see…” Carus stopped himself, shaking his head. “Verbal backspace,” he said, and fell silent for another minute. “When Zottec told me he was gay,” he finally continued, “I asked him how he knew. And he told me he kind of always knew, about how he felt when he looked at that guy in his class, how it felt like to be in love, and I just… kind of didn’t get it. I never felt that way about anyone. Not about girls, not about boys. Like, I can – could tell when someone’s attractive, y’know, but I never…” He made some haphazard gestures. “Like, I wouldn’t want to… kiss them or whatever. I’m just not interested. I don’t know, Dad. It’s… I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like… it’s like if I tried to draw right now. Something I’ve never seen, but you describe to me. It would be a shot in the dark, my… my interpretation of your explanation, but ultimately, not what you meant. And I wouldn’t have any idea what I’m doing, either. Couple that with me being blind, and… yeah. Probably just a bunch of squiggles. You wouldn’t know what it was, and I sure as hell wouldn’t, either.” He paused. “Does that make sense?”

“Well…” His father searched for the right words. “Well, in a way, I suppose. I know your thought process, so yes, it makes sense to me. Not sure about anyone else, though.”

Carus smiled, then he sighed. “Maybe I’m a late bloomer, but I mean, I’m only fifteen. And a teensy bit preoccupied right now.”

“A little bit,” said his father, smiling.

“Barely noticeable,” Carus agreed. He didn’t smile.

His father’s own smile faded. “Are you okay, Carissimus?”

A few moments passed. “Mostly,” Carus said eventually. “I know I’m lucky. You and Zottec make it a whole lot easier. Not to mention braille and the cane exist. I can’t imagine what it must be like without all that. I don’t have PTSD, which is more than I can ask for, and, hey, I’m alive. Really, comparatively, I’m the luckiest person ever.” He smiled crookedly. “Sometimes I wonder if that’s because some parallel version of myself is suffering endlessly, and the universe feels like it needs to atone.” He became serious again. “But… sometimes… It’s exhausting. I’m tired. Tired of being tired. Sometimes, I feel like a little kid, needing help with literally everything, and sometimes, I really, _really_ hate that. The headaches don’t help. At all. I miss the freedom having sight brings. Appreciate it, Dad. You’ve no idea how annoying it is to be unable to, like, walk to the supermarket, or your best friend’s house, like it’s nothing. Right now, I can’t even do _that_.”

“Is that why you pressed for mobility training so hard?” asked his father.

He nodded.

“Is there any way I can help?” his father asked quietly.

“You’re awesome, Dad,” Carus replied, smiling again. A real smile this time. “Like I said, you and Zottec, you’re literally the best ever. Do what you do, and everything’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“Ah, but worrying’s a parent’s number one job.”

“No, supporting and loving their children is.”

“I guess it is.”

Carus smiled. He winced and rubbed his temple.

“Headache?” 

He nodded.

“Need a painkiller?”

He shook his head. “It’s bearable.”

“I’ll put one on your bedside table with a glass of water, just in case.”

“Okay.” Carus stood and walked around the table to give his father a hug. “Night, Dad.”

“Good night, Carissimus.”

Carus let go and went towards his room. 

“What’s the best thing that ever happened to me?” his father asked him.

Carus turned around and grinned. “I am.”

“Sleep well.”

“You too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Carus is not a late bloomer. He is indeed aroace.
> 
> "Carus" is Latin, by the way, and means "precious" or "beloved". "Carissimus" is the superlative. "Zottec" is a name I made up. Carus' father never had a name and never will.
> 
> This was supposed to be a small character study for two of my OCs. I wouldn't even have posted it, if it weren't for Carus' aromantic asexuality; in order to give a less clichéd account of aromantic asexuality than the one that existed in the first draft, I asked [the-unfuckables on tumblr](https://the-unfuckables.tumblr.com/post/148363275436/1-m-writing-a-little-story-currently-in-which), and anyway. Here it is.  
> Special thank you to [tumblr user clarkeismyqueen,](https://clarkeismyqueen.tumblr.com/) who personally messaged me a bunch of links and quotes regarding the subject.
> 
> ~~I probably won't post more of these characters. At least not in the near future.~~  
>  EDIT: guess what I might after all. stay tuned.


End file.
